IPL 9, Match 55 Review: KKR ease past SRH to qualify for the playoffs

The rain gods had threatened to mar the game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens today. However, some fantastic work by the ground staff and the weather being kind, the match finally went underway.

For the Sunrisers Hyderabad, it was about seizing the opportunity to make it to the top two, while on the other hand, the Knight Riders needed this win to qualify for the playoffs. Having won the toss, the Sunrisers skipper David Warner had no hesitation in electing to field first. KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir wasn’t very pleased with batting first but accepted that toss cannot be controlled.

Kolkata openers Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa walked in the middle as Bhuvneshwar Kumar started proceedings for the visitors. Uthappa came up with flashing drives and raced to 25 off just 17 balls with 4 boundaries. It was in the 4th over when Barinder Sran got his wicket to bring Colin Munro (10) at the crease. The Kiwi looked like exploding all the time but ended up imploding a couple of overs later to leave KKR 48/2 by the end of the powerplay. Deepak Hooda was the beneficiary then.

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In his next over, he got the wicket of Gautam Gambhir, who didn’t look settled at the crease during his 15-ball 16. Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan then joined hands to reinstate the innings and take KKR to a position of safety. With the two players playing their shots freely, SRH would have imagined a target well above 180. They put 87 runs in just 49 balls for the 4th wicket. Pandey missed out on a well-deserved fifty when he was caught brilliantly by Kane Williamson off the bowling of Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

He scored 48 off 30 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes. Jason Holder (3) and Shakib Al Hasan (7) followed soon falling in quick succession to Mustafizur Rahman and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Yusuf Pathan held the fort at the other end and brought up his half century. He remained unbeaten on 52 off 34 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes as KKR posted 171/6 in their 20 overs.

The Sunrisers Hyderabad banked heavily on their skipper David Warner to fire and take the team over the line in a tough chase against a strong KKR bowling unit. However, despite a decent start, David Warner was cleaned up Sunil Narine in the 4th over. He managed a 16-ball 18. Naman Ojha was promoted up the order to join Shikhar Dhawan at the crease. The two batsmen took the score to 48 in the powerplay.

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Dhawan went on to bring up his half century in just 28 balls. However, it was Kuldeep Yadav who got the better of him a couple of balls later. He was dismissed on 51 off 30 balls in the 12th over. Yuvraj Singh announced his arrival at the crease with a straight drive. An over later, Ojha’s struggle at the crease came to an end with 25-ball 15. Both set batsmen were back in the dugout with Williamson joining Yuvraj.

Just when the match seemed slipping from the hands of Sunrisers, Yuvraj clubbed two consecutive maximums of Yadav in the 14th over to bring the equation down to 63 off 36 balls. The two-way battle swung back to KKR way, with Shakib getting rid of Yuvraj on 19. The next over, 16th of the innings, saw Deepak Hooda run out due to a horrible mix-up. It came down to the overseas horses Kane Williamson and Moises Henriques to deliver with required rate creeping up to 12 an over.

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The Kiwi disappointed and perished in his attempt to slog. This certainly wasn’t his day with the bat. So was it for Henriques too. He was dismissed on 11 off 10 and became the 3rd victim of Sunil Narine. Needing 36 of 12 never looked easy with the tail at the crease. It was all mere formalities after that as the Kolkata Knight Riders held their nerves on the night when it mattered to stay alive in the competition and made it to the playoffs. Kolkata Knight Riders won the match by a convincing margin of 22 runs.

Sunrisers, too, have made it to the playoffs. It all comes down to the result of Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Delhi Daredevils match to see who joins the Gujarat Lions for the Qualifier 1 and which two teams face the heat of the eliminator.

Brief Scores:

Kolkata Knight Riders: 171/6 in 20 overs (Yusuf Pathan 52*, Hooda 2/16)

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 149/8 in 20 overs (Dhawan 51, Narine 2/36)